Simulation Pricing

Dionysusnu in post 148347 said:

jc92 in post 148344 said:

2) this isn't in line with most multiplayer online games either. You want to play it, you buy it. Look at Xbox, PlayStation and steam. Everyone needs to buy the game in question in order to take part in it.

Notable game that does follow the "host buys, free client" style is the Jackbox Party Packs.

The full answer is that there is a "host buys, free client" style but according to the Jackbox web-site there is also a marketing spiel at the end of each game designed to sell the users merchandise through Jackbox.

That is a bit different to how a SimSig multiplay session is configured.

2) this isn't in line with most multiplayer online games either. You want to play it, you buy it. Look at Xbox, PlayStation and steam. Everyone needs to buy the game in question in order to take part in it.

jc92 in post 148344 said:

2) this isn't in line with most multiplayer online games either. You want to play it, you buy it. Look at Xbox, PlayStation and steam. Everyone needs to buy the game in question in order to take part in it.

Note that Xbox has game pass, and Playstation has Plus, which are both subscription based systems.

I've played multiple times with friends and never encountered this "marketing spiel".. not sure what they mean by it..

magicalcoriander in post 148343 said:

No. We don't need more subscription pricing plans in our lives. This will totally ruin the game.

What SimSig actually needs (and likely what you actually want) is for players to be able to join a multiplayer session as a client without purchasing the license. Only the host needs to purchase the license. But apparently that's too much to ask for.

Total nonsense. What you are saying is that you and a bunch of your mates club together to buy and use a sim.
If you want to play a sim, buy it like the rest of us.

magicalcoriander in post 148343 said:

No. We don't need more subscription pricing plans in our lives. This will totally ruin the game.

What SimSig actually needs (and likely what you actually want) is for players to be able to join a multiplayer session as a client without purchasing the license. Only the host needs to purchase the license. But apparently that's too much to ask for.

1) that's of absolutely no benefit to anyone who doesn't want to use multiplayer, or for sims that offer no multiplayer

2) this isn't in line with most multiplayer online games either. You want to play it, you buy it. Look at Xbox, PlayStation and steam. Everyone needs to buy the game in question in order to take part in it.

This just screams of people freeloading off of people who make the effort to buy a sim and then take the time to host it for everyone else.

jc92 in post 148344 said:

magicalcoriander in post 148343 said:

No. We don't need more subscription pricing plans in our lives. This will totally ruin the game.

What SimSig actually needs (and likely what you actually want) is for players to be able to join a multiplayer session as a client without purchasing the license. Only the host needs to purchase the license. But apparently that's too much to ask for.

1) that's of absolutely no benefit to anyone who doesn't want to use multiplayer, or for sims that offer no multiplayer

2) this isn't in line with most multiplayer online games either. You want to play it, you buy it. Look at Xbox, PlayStation and steam. Everyone needs to buy the game in question in order to take part in it.

This just screams of people freeloading off of people who make the effort to buy a sim and then take the time to host it for everyone else.

1)
Note that most online multiplayer games have servers to maintain to keep the games functional, which is covered by the purchase price. This simply isn't the case for SimSig other than the website itself (which is covered by the ads anyway)
2)
If the host does not want to admit someone to the game, he/she has the power to reject the connection. If you want to get compensated for hosting the game, you can ask for it. However, there is clearly a case where the host has purchased the game which is too big to play on it's own but is unable to find anyone else to enjoy the game with because no one around can afford the game. The host should have the freedom to accept those who cannot buy the sim into the game so that it can be properly enjoyed.

No. We don't need more subscription pricing plans in our lives. This will totally ruin the game.

What SimSig actually needs (and likely what you actually want) is for players to be able to join a multiplayer session as a client without purchasing the license. Only the host needs to purchase the license. But apparently that's too much to ask for.

Dick in post 148346 said:

magicalcoriander in post 148343 said:

No. We don't need more subscription pricing plans in our lives. This will totally ruin the game.

What SimSig actually needs (and likely what you actually want) is for players to be able to join a multiplayer session as a client without purchasing the license. Only the host needs to purchase the license. But apparently that's too much to ask for.

Total nonsense. What you are saying is that you and a bunch of your mates club together to buy and use a sim.
If you want to play a sim, buy it like the rest of us.

Ah yes, the classic "I don't have it so you shouldn't have it" argument 🤣🤣🤣

It seems you are looking along the argument that if you want to travel from a to b and someone else is driving there you can sit in the back because they should pay as they are the ones driving and you are just participating in the journey.

The whole concept you advocate is selfish, both against the development team and the regular users who you expect to finance your game.

The developers would have to either increase the price to those who pay to offset the loss of revenue, or take the hit themselves, which in turn jeopardise the future of the product, and a lot of hosts wouldn’t want to buy a game for everyone else to freeload off, especially as in many cases the host cannot actually work a panel themselves due to the work needed to control a large multiplayer game.

At the risk of hijacking the thread, and something I have been thinking about for a while…

I’d actually be willing to pay for a simulation before it was finished, or even before work started, if that helped the developers and encouraged new sims. Effectively a pre-order. Obviously there would be complexities to work through, but putting it out there in case there is any appetite.

What are the chances of a Developer not finishing a sim once it enters the testing phase? I would have thought probably zero, in which case an order could be placed at that point with payment made upon release.
Or would be too difficult to implement and just be a waste of time?

bugsy in post 148391 said:

What are the chances of a Developer not finishing a sim once it enters the testing phase? I would have thought probably zero, in which case an order could be placed at that point with payment made upon release.
Or would be too difficult to implement and just be a waste of time?

The chances are relatively low- though it has happened. I think the biggest problem is that SimSig doesn't announce release dates in advance. All manner of things can cause a sim to spend longer in testing than might have been hoped/expected. I think you'd end up with an issue whereby people who 'pre-buy' the sim get annoyed that SimSig has their money but the release date has been put back.

Steamer in post 148392 said:

bugsy in post 148391 said:

What are the chances of a Developer not finishing a sim once it enters the testing phase? I would have thought probably zero, in which case an order could be placed at that point with payment made upon release.
Or would be too difficult to implement and just be a waste of time?

The chances are relatively low- though it has happened. I think the biggest problem is that SimSig doesn't announce release dates in advance. All manner of things can cause a sim to spend longer in testing than might have been hoped/expected. I think you'd end up with an issue whereby people who 'pre-buy' the sim get annoyed that SimSig has their money but the release date has been put back.

Quite understandable. Perhaps the idea of buying in advance or pre-ordering isn't such a good one :/

Tangentially -

Microsoft changing to a subscription model for Office is more a cash grab by a monopoly than anything else - they know full well that their software is baked into the fabric of so many companies around the world, effectively holding users hostage - pay us every year instead of once or we'll revoke your permission to use the product.

Users lose out - they can easily end up paying more in total, over the lifetime of a product, than if they'd just paid the asking price at the start.

Dick in post 148346 said:

magicalcoriander in post 148343 said:

No. We don't need more subscription pricing plans in our lives. This will totally ruin the game.

What SimSig actually needs (and likely what you actually want) is for players to be able to join a multiplayer session as a client without purchasing the license. Only the host needs to purchase the license. But apparently that's too much to ask for.

Total nonsense. What you are saying is that you and a bunch of your mates club together to buy and use a sim.
If you want to play a sim, buy it like the rest of us.

Ah yes, the classic "I don't have it so you shouldn't have it" argument 🤣🤣🤣

Dick in post 148346 said:

magicalcoriander in post 148343 said:

No. We don't need more subscription pricing plans in our lives. This will totally ruin the game.

What SimSig actually needs (and likely what you actually want) is for players to be able to join a multiplayer session as a client without purchasing the license. Only the host needs to purchase the license. But apparently that's too much to ask for.

Total nonsense. What you are saying is that you and a bunch of your mates club together to buy and use a sim.
If you want to play a sim, buy it like the rest of us.

Ah yes, the classic "I don't have it so you shouldn't have it" argument 🤣🤣🤣